Paul Jenkins (Fairy Quest, Deathmatch) heads back to Kickstarter in search of financial backing for Fiction Squad, the next chapter in the Fablewood saga that began in Fairy Quest.

What is it?

Fiction Squad is a six-issue miniseries and is a sequel to Paul Jenkins and Humberto Ramos’ Fairy Quest, one of the most successfully funded Kickstarter comics projects of 2012 that eventually got picked up for publication by BOOM! Studios. Set in the Fairy Quest‘s world of Fablewood, Fiction Squad tells the story of Frankie Mack, a down-on-his-luck detective from the Realm of Crime Fiction. Frankie crosses the genre border into the Realm of Children’s Stories where he discovers that every nursery rhyme is actually based on a real crime. But the Realm of Children’s Stories is a dangerous place—the Queens and the Witches are the Mob, the Mayor is a Crooked Man, and the Police Chief, Tom Thumb, is in everyone’s pocket. Now, it’s up to Mack and his partner Simple Simon to prevent a full-scale gang war from breaking out after Humpty Dumpty and the Wicked Witch of the East both meet untimely deaths under suspicious circumstances.

Check out the Kickstarter project’s fundraising campaign video and a small gallery of pre-press art:

Fiction Squad #1 cover art by Ramon Bachs

Unlettered art by Ramon Bachs

Unlettered art by Ramon Bachs

Who is behind it?

Fiction Squad is written by Paul Jenkins, whose many credits include the abovementioned Fairy Quest, BOOM! Studios’ Deathmatch, Marvel’s 1998 Inhumans limited series (for which Jenkins shared the “Best New Series” Eisner Award with artist Jae Lee), DC/Vertigo’s Hellblazer, Marvel’s The Spectacular Spider-Man, and Top Cow/Image Comics’ The Darkness.

Fiction Squad‘s artist is industry veteran Ramon Bachs, who has worked on titles as varied as Azrael (DC Comics), Civil War: Frontline (Marvel Comics), Gen13 (DC/Wildstorm), and Star Wars: Jedi vs. Sith (Dark Horse Comics). It’s also worth noting here that much of the art for Fiction Squad has already been finished by Bachs, so backers should rest assured that the potential for publication delays is minimal.

Between the two of them, Jenkins and Bachs have almost four decades of experience as published creators in the US comics industry.

How much money does it need and when does the fundraising campaign period end?

As of this writing, the Fiction Squad fundraising campaign has received pledges adding up to the amount of $20,089, just a little over 33% of its $60,000 goal, with 24 days left in its campaign period. The fundraising period ends on Friday, 25 July 2014, 1:55 PM PDT.

Where will the crowdfunding contributions go?

What are the rewards and benefits for backers?

A $5 pledge gets a backer a Fiction Squad-themed digital wallpaper, a $15 pledge gets a backer DRM-free PDF copies of each issue of Fiction Squad as they are released by partner BOOM! Studios (estimated series launch October 2014), while a $25 pledge gets a backer print copies of each issue of Fiction Squad as they are released by partner BOOM! Studios (estimated series launch October 2014).

Backers will receive Kickstarter-exclusive variant cover editions of all six issues of Fiction Squad with a pledge of $40 and for an additional $10, the issues will be signed by Fiction Squad writer Paul Jenkins. A $45 pledge will entitle a backer to a Kickstarter-exclusive Fiction Squad hardcover collecting all six issues (estimated hardcover availability date: Summer 2015). Additional rewards at the $65, $75, $95, $500, and $1,000 level, include one-of-a-kind original art from Ramon Bachs, extra-limited edition signed hardcovers, and the opportunity to be drawn into an issue of Fiction Squad, with or without a speaking role. Check out the campaign page for more backer reward and stretch goal details.

How can I support the project?

Click here to back the Fiction Squad Kickstarter campaign. Spread the word about Fiction Squad on social media using the following shortlink: http://kck.st/1lqdctU

Where is Home? (Kickstarter): Ongoing until Wednesday, 09 July 2014, 3:09 PM PDT, the crowdfunding campaign for this 60-page comics anthology created by an international team of animators and illustrators still needs $1,000 as of this writing to meet its baseline funding goal.

[…] Fiction Squad (Kickstarter): As of this writing, this comics miniseries sequel to Fairy Quest has raised a little over 41% of its $60,000 target. With 17 days left in its fundraising period, it’s not too late to pledge your support for this work written by Eisner Award winner Paul Jenkins (Inhumans, Deathmatch) and illustrated by Ramon Bachs (Civil War: Frontline, Gen13). […]

[…] Fiction Squad (Kickstarter): As of this writing, the campaign for the sequel to Fairy Quest has raised a little over 49% of its $60,000 target. With 10 days left in its fundraising period, it’s not too late to pledge your support for this work written by Eisner Award winner Paul Jenkins (Inhumans, Deathmatch) and illustrated by Ramon Bachs (Civil War: Frontline, Gen13). […]

[…] Fiction Squad (Kickstarter): The good news: As of this writing, the campaign for the sequel to Fairy Quest has raised an impressive $43, 219. The bad news: That’s still well short of the campaign’s $60,000 target. If you’ve got $17,000 burning a hole in your pocket, you’ve got three days left to pledge your support for this work written by Eisner Award winner Paul Jenkins (Inhumans, Deathmatch) and illustrated by Ramon Bachs (Civil War: Frontline, Gen13). […]

[…] Fiction Squad (Kickstarter): Believe it or not, the Fiction Squad campaign was able to raise $20,000 in the last three days of its funding period, exceeding the campaign’s $60,000 target. This miniseries sequel to Fairy Quest written by Eisner Award winner Paul Jenkins (Inhumans, Deathmatch) and illustrated by Ramon Bachs (Civil War: Frontline, Gen13) is set to go out on October 2014. […]